Already Dead
by The-Midnight-Sun
Summary: MadEye Moody mentions to Harry that the Prewett brothers died like heroes during the first war with Voldemort. This story details their last moments together and their encounter with the death eaters.


Gideon Prewett drained the last of the beer from his glass and winced slightly at the taste. Bringing a hand up to his mouth he wiped away the frothy suds that were stuck to his moustache and goatee. He turned to the man next to him who had just returned from the bar with two more pints of the cloudy ale.

"Tell me, Fabe, why do we keep coming in here?", he asked as he reached for his fresh drink. "It sure as hell isn't the beer".

The taller man reached into the inside pocket of his robes and pulled out a packet of muggle cigarettes. Placing one between his lips, he reached once more into a pocket and pulled out his wand. Touching the end of the cigarette with the tip, he muttered a short incantation out of the side of his mouth and the cigarette lit. He took a deep drag of the smoke before answering.

"I think it's the ambiance, little brother. I like the crowd", he replied, smirking slightly.

Gideon raised an eyebrow ever so slightly and glanced around the room. Apart from them, it was totally empty save for the barmaid who was busy reading a copy of _Witch Weekly_ looking decidedly bored. The floor was littered with cigarette butts and looked as if it had been a good few days since it was cleaned last

"I can see what you mean. It just has class written all over it. The smell is simply delightful", remarked Gideon, grinning widely.

Fabian took another deep drag from his cigarette, blowing the smoke into the air. He tapped the ash on the floor, adding to the assortment of refuse. He turned to his brother with a slightly more solemn look on his face

"Seriously, though, Gid, I don't like this laying low business any more than you do but it's for the best. Dumbledore reckons it's not safe for us after that incident in London."

Gideon grinned even more broadly at this last statement and took another sip from his pint.

"You always did have a way with words, Fabe. An 'incident' was it? I would hardly call what we did to You-Know-Who's recruitment party an 'incident'. It was absolutely brilliant!"

Fabian, grinning widely now himself nodded agreeingly.

"I must admit, transfiguring that death eater's head into a watermelon _was_ a work of pure genius. Couldn't have done better myself. Although, in hindsight, it probably wasn't the most efficient way of dealing with them. We were lucky we got there in time at any rate."

Gideon nodded sagely in reply.

"Very true, big brother, very true. I wonder why they were bothering old Bertie anyway. I would have hardly thought You-Know-Who would be interested in him for his Death Eaters. Perhaps it had something to do with his work for the Ministry?"

"It's possible. I'm sure the Aurors will get the information out of them one way or the other now they're safely under lock and key in Azkaban. Poor old Mad-Eye nearly had a fit when I told him we'd captured three of them without him being there", remarked Fabian who took one final drag from his cigarette before stubbing it out beneath his boot.

Gideon nodded before yawning widely and looking at the clock on the wall.

"Should we think about making a move? I don't think I can stomach another glass of this swill. Besides, any more, and that beast of a barmaid might actually start looking good. Speaking of which, where's she disappeared to?"

Fabian looked around towards the bar but she was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging he stood up, grabbed their empty glasses and walked over towards the bar where their coats were hanging. Grabbing hold of them both, he was about to walk away when he spotted something behind the bar and peered over the edge. The barmaid was crouching on the floor with her hands over her head looking extremely tense.

"What on earth are you doing down there, Holly? You're going to get absolutely filthy!" he remarked in surprise.

"Filthy-ER" muttered Gideon under his breath.

Before she had a chance to reply, something starting making a high pitched whistling sound from within one of the pockets of his coat. Fabian glanced quickly at his brother, who had recognised the sound.

"The Sneakoscope!"

The Sneakoscope they had been carrying was a gift from Dumbledore and had been very finely tuned to respond only to the most untrustworthy and dangerous characters. Gideon jumped to his feet and quickly and kicked over the table they had just been sitting at. Running over, he grabbed his brother, throwing him to the floor behind the table before diving behind it himself.

Less than a second later an explosion ripped through the bar, the door flying through the air straight through the place Fabian had been standing moments before. Fabian turned to his brother, surprise etched on his face.

"Well that can't be good"

Gideon nodded. "It might be fair to say we should get ready for a fight, big brother."

Fabian nodded, still looking a bit shaken.

"Not a bad idea, Gid.", he replied as they both plunged their hands into their robes to retrieve their wands.

Moments later, a dark figure came striding through the door, shrouded in black hooded robes. Before he had barely placed a foot over the threshold of the pub, Gideon and Fabian had jumped to their feet, wands at the ready.

"STUPEFY", they bellowed simultaneously, their wands pointing directly at the approaching death eater. Two flashes of red light flew through the air with incredible speed, connecting with the death eater's chest and sending him flying backwards, arms flailing through the air as he sailed out into the cold night air.

They ducked quickly back behind the table, breathing heavily as the adrenaline coursed through their veins. As quickly as they had moved, 3 flashes of green light jetted through the open door, narrowly missing the table they were seeking refuge behind.

Fabian turned once more to his brother, anger replacing the look of surprise that had been on his face earlier.

"They looked suspiciously like Killing Curses, Gid. I get the feeling these fellas aren't looking for a fair fight.", he remarked grimly.

Unlike his brother, Gideon did not look angry. The thrill of battle had lit up his eyes with a fiery glow that gave him a slightly insane look.

"If death is on their minds, they've come to the right place.", he muttered, peering out from behind the table.

Another death eater was making his way through the door. Gideon rolled out to the side of the table and sent another stunner flying at the approaching figure. This time, however, he was ready for it.

"PROTEGO!", he yelled in a deep gravelly voice.

The shield charm deflected the approaching stunner into the mirror behind the bar, covering the cowering barmaid in a shower of broken glass. The death eater replied with a curse of his own, which Gideon narrowly avoided by diving back behind the table.

The death eater was not prepared, however, for Fabian's attack. He had ducked around the other end of the table and while the death eater was focused on Gideon, he sent a flash of yellow light soaring towards the death eater which smashed into his shoulder. The man slammed into the back wall of the Pub, sinking the floor and dropped his wand with a clatter.

As he fell, the death eater's hood had fallen, revealing a brutal looking scarred face whose eyes were slanted in fury. His right arm lay limply by his side but with his left he scrambled for his wand.

Before either of the brothers could stop him, three more curses came flying through the open doorway and they were forced to take refuge once again behind the fallen table. Gideon jumped to his feet once more, wand outstretched, but was barely able to produce a shield charm in time to deflect the curses sent towards him.

There now stood three death eaters beside the scarred, brutal looking man, and he was now dragging himself to his feet, clutching his wand in his undamaged left hand.

"You're going to pay for that you nasty little worm", he snarled pain etched into his ugly face

Gideon turned to his brother who had similarly jumped to his feet, but had not yet cast a spell after seeing the assortment of enemies standing before them.

"I think now would be a good time to make our thrilling escape, don't you think Fabe?", he said light heartedly to his brother. Despite the lightness of his voice, he gave Fabian a significant look, glancing at the overturned table in front of them.

All four of the death eaters now had their wands pointing at the brothers and one of them gave a nasty laugh at this last statement.

"You would find that difficult, boy.", he said with a sneer and with his free hand he reached into his robes and produced a shining amulet set with a deep, blood red stone. "A gift from the Dark Lord. He bewitched it personally with the most powerful anti-disapparation jinx known to man. Nobody in the area can leave, even if they wanted to. We didn't want you running away just as things got interesting"

Gideon gave the death eater one of his trademark raised eyebrows before replying.

"Is that you, Dolohov? I should have recognised your foul stench before I did your voice. How very unpleasant that we should have to make your acquaintance again. You were lucky to escape the last time", he remarked with disdain in his voice.

One of the other hooded figures spoke now in a thick Eastern European accent.

"Arrogant fool. Even facing death with no escape, he still finds the time to make his little jokes. I will take great pleasure in wiping that smirk from your face, child"

Fabian spoke now, though not with the same light-heartedness of his brother. He stared at the death eater with a look of cold fury in his eyes. There was a sound of deep menace in his voice as he addressed the speaker.

"Hello Metternich", he said in a low angry voice. "It really is a shame we have to go now. I would have taken equally great pleasure in taking out your other eye you sadistic piece of crap"

Dolohov gave another of his nasty laughs.

"Do you hear that, Antonin?", he asked the Eastern European death eater. "I don't think he likes you. He also seems to be forgetting his little problem of the amulet. You are going nowhere, boy".

Gideon smirked once more at the death eater and shifted slightly on his feet.

"I think perhaps it's you who seems to be forgetting, Dolohov, though I thought for sure a nasty creature like yourself would know, that there is more than one way to skin a cat"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Gideon reached for his brother's hand and gripped it tightly in his own. Simultaneously the two of them dropped with incredible speed onto their backs and in the same movement, kicked out with all their force at the table in front of them. The grubby piece of wood slid across the floor at great pace, slamming directly into the knees of the death eaters who all yelled out in pain as they collapsed over the top of it.

The brothers sprung back onto their feet and ran with all of the speed they could muster towards the back door of the pub. Gideon reached it first, wrenching it open and diving out into the freezing air outside. Fabian was moments behind him but he was barely out of the door and beyond the line of sight of any curses when there came a shout from inside. This time however, it was a woman who spoke in a cold heartless voice.

"Run then you cowards!", she screamed after them. "We'll see instead how the nasty little barmaid who betrayed you to us likes the feel of the Cruciatus curse!"

From within the bar there came an inhuman scream such as the brothers had never heard before, and it was clear that woman death eater was making good on her promise to torture the treacherous barmaid.

Fabian skidded to a halt, spinning back towards the pub.

"We can't leave her to face that, Gid!" he said breathlessly. "We have to go ba-"

The words caught in his throat. The brothers had failed to notice Dolohov and Metternich sprinting behind them in pursuit, Dolohov slightly ahead of the large Eastern European. Gideon had time to turn around and fire of a stunning spell at Dolohov, but not before the death eater had made a slashing motion with his wand towards Fabian. A streak of what looked like purple flame passed through the older brother's chest, and with the slightest of gasps, he fell lifeless into the snow. Dolohov, who had been hit by the stunner moments after casting his own spell fell similarly face forward into the floor.

"NOOOOOOO!", Gideon screamed, anguish pouring out of him as he fell to his knees. Although it was snowing outside, he felt even colder, as if the life had been wrenched out of him at the same time his brother's had been so cruelly snuffed out. Through the tears, he could barely make out a black shape running towards him and with a start, he realised Metternich was almost upon him.

As he watched the death eater quickly approaching him, the grief that was wracking every inch of his body suddenly turned to rage. With all the strength he could muster, he threw himself to one side avoiding Metternich's killing curse and pointed his wand directly at the death eater's chest.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!", he screamed and a jet of green light flew out of the end of his wand, connecting with Metternich's torso. Gideon had never used an unforgivable curse, but as he watched the death eater collapse dead into the snow, he could not have cared any less for the consequences.

He dragged himself to his feet and sprinted back towards the pub where another death eater was just emerging from the doorway.

"AVADA KEDAVRA", he screamed again and once more a jet of green light flew from his wand and slammed into the unsuspecting death eater's chest.

Gideon kicked the lifeless body out of the way of the door and found himself staring at the woman death eater, a thin blonde woman who was continuing to torture the helpless barmaid on the floor of the pub with a thin cruel smile on her face as she caused unspeakable pain. Through the woman's screams of agony, she had not heard Gideon re-enter the pub and did not notice as he thrust his wand back into his pocket and picked up one of the fallen bar stools. With all his might, he lifted the stool high above him and brought it down on the death eater's head with a sickening crunch and she too fell lifeless to the floor.

The room was suddenly very quiet, with only the barmaid's soft whimpers penetrating the deep silence. He walked slowly and menacingly over to her now, grabbing her by the front of her shirt and dragging her roughly to her feet. He reared his hand back and slapped the woman square in the face, bringing her to her senses. Her eyes focused slowly on the visage in front of her and the look of pure fury on Gideon's face filled her with more terror than all five of the death eaters who had entered the pub that evening.

"YOU BETRAYED US!", he screamed at her, tiny pieces of spittle showing her face, "YOU BETRAYED HIM!"

He pulled out his wand and held it pointing into her face, his hand shaking uncontrollably with anger. The barmaid began to cry now, tears rolling down her fat face and she fell from his grip to lay at the floor groveling at his feet.

"Please! Please don't kill me! I'm sorry...please", she sobbed into the floor, writhing around pitifully.

Gideon stared down at her and suddenly the rage that had overtaken him was gone, replaced once more with the infinite grief he had felt as he watched his brother die.

"Go." he said shakily with a voice that he barely recognised as his own, his wand arm falling loosely at his side.

The barmaid looked up, her tear-stained face filled with surprise. Not waiting for him to change his mind, she scrambled to her feet and ran quickly through the front door.

As soon as she was gone, the bar was filled with silence and the wand dropped from Gideon's hand with a clatter against the filthy wooden floor. He fell to his knees once more; the grief finally overtaking him and the enormity of what he had done and what he had seen washed over him. He knelt there, sobbing into his hands and the knowledge that he would never again see his brother filled him with deeper pain than he had ever thought possible.

Through his tears, he did not hear Dolohov sneaking towards the back door, having regained consciousness. He did not notice as Dolohov brought his wand down in the same slashing motion that had killed his brother. He did not feel anything as the purple flame passed through his body and he fell to the floor. As far as he was concerned, he was already dead.


End file.
